Over the years, I’ve discovered that emotions are messages from my subconscious mind. More importantly, I discovered how these messages can lead me to more productive behaviors.
Past
In the past, I too often languished in the misery of negative messages…fear, anxiety, anger, frustration and envy. In addition to feeling miserable, I was postponing the achievement of whatever it was I desired at the time. In other words, remaining in these emotional states was preventing me from accomplishing what I desired…and it was all my fault.
Present
Since I’ve discovered that these emotions are simply messages that indicate that I need to do something different, I can quickly set them aside and move forward more quickly. I do that by acknowledging that the emotion is simply a message. Then I ask my subconscious mind “How can I…?” or “What do I need to do to…?”
By asking these questions I’m assigning my subconscious mind the task of finding a way that I can move forward quickly and effectively. Immediately following the assignment of this task, I shift my attention to something I can do successfully using my conscious mind.
Trusting the subconscious
I’m sure that more than a few of you are thinking “I don’t know that I have enough confidence in my subconscious mind to do that.” I didn’t either…in the beginning.
Three things that enabled me to trust my subconscious mind are:
- The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Dr. Jospeh Murphy – great book!
- After several months of unsuccessful conscious efforts to find a way to help a group of teens, my subconscious mind, while I was traveling to the last class session, provided the solution. It was that experience that taught me that my subconscious (God or the Universe) always provides what I need when I need it.
- I tested my subconscious mind by setting an alarm clock for the time I wanted to rise, then instructed my subconscious that I wanted to awaken 5 minutes earlier. After the experience mentioned above and three days of awakening before the alarm, I had complete confidence in my subconscious mind.
For you
When an emotion arises, remind yourself that it’s simply a message. Ask your subconscious mind “How can I experience this positive emotion more frequently?” or “What do I need to do to replace my feelings of fear, anxiety, frustration, anger, envy, procrastination with joy, peace, and fulfillment?” Then proceed to shift your conscious mind to other activities.
You’ll be amazed at how much easier and more enjoyable life becomes. Feel free to use my alarm clock experiment to help you discover just how reliable your subconscious mind is.
For our kids
Once you’ve discovered the power of your subconscious mind, tell your kids what you’ve discovered. Encourage them to look for ways that their subconscious mind is helping them.
When you see them languishing in negative emotions, ask “What is your subconscious telling you?” This simple question will shift their minds from perpetuating misery to actively pursuing more productive behaviors. The joy they experience from successfully making this shift will encourage them to continue the behavior and, in doing so, make this new way of thinking automatic.
Jackie Trottmann
Hi Dale,
Very thought provoking. I always talk about the still, small voice inside of us that is our internal guidance system – call it your heart, your gut, or your spirit. I would add that, for me, it is also listening to God’s Spirit inside offering peace, guidance, and direction (you mentioned God or the Universe). So… does the sub-conscious mind go beyond this? Or is it one and the same? I love the questions to ask: “How can I experience this positive emotion more frequently?” or “What do I need to do to replace my feelings of fear, anxiety, frustration, anger, envy, procrastination with joy, peace, and fulfillment?”
Kind regards,
Jackie
dfurtwengler
Jackie, your questions are, in essence, you requesting your subconscious mind (your God’s spirit inside) to provide the answer for you. That answer comes in the times when your conscious mind isn’t focused a specific task. When your conscious mind is free, not engaged in a task, your subconscious mind is free to wander resulting into amazing epiphanies that help you live a richer, fuller live. These are the times when we experience joy, contentment, peace and fulfillment.
Sanghita Mukherjee Malladeb
Hi Dale
Good to know that we can reprogram our subconscious mind. Generally I get answers from my subconscious mind when I ask something. But if I get a negative answer like you will have this disease from my subconscious mind,how should I change that to a positive answer?
dfurtwengler
First, my apologies for the late response Sanghita. I didn’t get a notice of your comment as I should have. To answer your question, when you get a negative thought like “you will have this disease” realize that it is an emotion that you’re experiencing. Emotions are automatic thoughts or responses. We cannot avoid them. We do not, however, have to embrace them. Instead, we can ask our subconscious mind “How can I avoid this disease? What actions can I take, behaviors can I develop that will minimize my risk for getting this disease?” Your subconscious mind will provide answers to these “how” and “what” questions. It cannot find answers to “if” questions like “I wonder if I’ll get this disease?”
One final thought, Sanghita. Did you have a friend or loved one who recently experienced the disease? Often, there are events that trigger our subconscious thoughts. If that’s the case in your thoughts about a disease, or any event that causes you concern, then realize that (1) just because someone else experienced it doesn’t mean that you will (2) the more you fret over the possibility of experiencing the same event increases the likelihood of it’s occurrence. You may want to find a book on NLP, neurolinguistic programming, to further your understanding of how to use positive language instead of negative language. NLP is the science of how language impacts our behaviors. I hope this helps. Thank you for commenting…and, again, my apologies for the late response.
sina sadjadi
Hi Dale,
Hope all is well. In mysticism Sufis and Monks spend a great deal of time on feelings like the LOVE OF GOD. They are led on this path long ago by people who knew our true self is behind the mask of ego. What the sufis call our essence or the subconscious. After the death of ego that coincides with the awakening of subconscious the real self is born. The feelings are used as a pathway to the subconscious which is normally hidden and full of emotions, positive and negative. Your description here matches the beginning of what is called the third way or the path of love. Rumi and Hafiz are the Masters of this path through poetry. Reading their poetry can effect the subconscious mind in a positive way. Sorry for the rambling and thanks for the article.
dfurtwengler
Sina, I love it when readers further enhance my awareness as you have today. Thank you! It’s also reassuring to hear you say that my description matches the path of love for it is my goal in life to use love to enhance others’ awareness of how special they are and how they can use their gifts to enrich their lives as well as the lives of others. Bless you for taking the time to share your wisdom with us.